By Z. Byron Wolf and Sarah Parnass

Debate Eve - It's the day before the ABC News / Yahoo News! / WOI-TV / Des Moines Register / Iowa GOP debate and Romney honed his argument against Newt Gingrich. Gingrich, for the first time, spoke ill of Romney - "he was running to the left of Teddy Kennedy in Massachusetts in 1994!" and Rick Perry had another Oops, becoming the third candidate to add to the 2012 gaffe reel during a taped editorial board with a newspaper.

Gingrich cancelled a book signing and hired more staff up in New Hampshire, while over in Iowa Jon Karl stopped by a near-empty Romney office - "One paid staffer & one volunteer." http://bit.ly/vscqpb

The stage is set for a pivotal debate at Drake University on Saturday. See the construction here: http://abcn.ws/vYzBhl

Newt Strikes Back at Romney - Gingrich, who has said he'll run a positive campaign,  took exception when asked about Mitt Romney and the Contract with America. Here's what he said during an audio interview with Ben Domenech:

"That's not totally fair. He was running for - He was running to the left of Teddy Kennedy in Massachusetts in 1994. And he said flatly, he wasn't for the Reagan-Bush policies, he was independent. And he couldn't possibly have been for the Contract because, how do you run in Massachusetts to the left of Teddy Kennedy favoring a Gingrich Contract?" More from Jake Tapper: http://abcn.ws/uod6bO

Romney Interviewed by David Muir - David Muir and Emily Friedman report there's "no question in his mind" Gingrich would be the easier candidate for President Barack Obama to beat in the general election…

At the debate? - "Well, we'll be talking about issues of course and we have differing views on some issues and we'll be talking about those differences, that's after all the nature of a debate," said Romney.

And on the attacks by his surrogates against Gingrich? - "Well [there are] a lot of people that worked with Speaker Gingrich in the past and they're going to say whatever they will," said Romney. "Heaven knows I can't write a script for all the people that support me." http://abcn.ws/sSG26s

Gingrich: Palestinians an 'Invented People' - http://abcn.ws/tGESJK

Iowa GOP Chair Matt Strawn Rates Organization - Gingrich Ground Game an 'Open Issue;' 'Irrefutable' that Paul Has 'Great Organization' - "Top Line" took to Iowa today where ABC's Amy Walter and Rick Klein heard from the state's Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn on what to expect for tomorrow night's debate. Though Strawn stopped short of endorsing a candidate, he said the fact of Ron Paul's "great organization" is "irrefutable." http://abcn.ws/uLM4Lm

Is the Tea Party Over? - The emergence of a former House Speaker as the GOP frontrunner and the inability of Republicans to gel behind a single candidate and Rand Paul's prediction that a Gingrich nomination could crumble the whole movement made us wonder if the Tea Party is over for the GOP?  A thorough report from Huma Khan: http://abcn.ws/s8VoKc

25 Days Out: Good Morning Iowa - Shush Walshe's  daily must-read: http://abcn.ws/rRzj24

Meet Steve Deace: Iowa Radio's Christian Conservative Hitmaker and Hitman - A profile with Yahoo! of conservative radio personality Steve Deace and what's going on in Iowa - (with a video piece shot and edited by utility player Shush Walshe) - http://abcn.ws/trKVZA

Gingrich Cancels D.C. Book Signing, Only Public Event Day Before Debate - Amy Bingham and Elicia Dover report: Newt's only event for the day was supposed to be 1,000 miles away from the Hawkeye state at Washington, D.C.'s Union Station - just hours before the debate in Iowa tomorrow night. But as it turned out, the book signing  was cancelled, with the campaign blaming public safety concerns. http://abcn.ws/rYONAC

Gingrich Campaign Expands NH Staff, Gains Endorsements and Volunteers - http://abcn.ws/tU9f75

Another Oops? Rick Perry Misstates Number of Supreme Court Justices -  Yep, that's right, ABC's Arlette Saenz reports that Rick Perry made yet another factual flub. While speaking with the Des Moines Register Editorial Board, Perry mangled the name of Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor and referred to the court being composed of eight judges, when in fact, there are nine. http://abcn.ws/vD8SSs

Rift in Perry Camp Over Ad Criticizing Gays in Military - The backlash online against Rick Perry's controversial ad that disparages Gays in the Military and accuses Obama of a "war on religion." Whether backlash online is representative of the whole country remains to be seen. But there is apparently a rift in Perry's camp. Arlette Saenz tells us Perry's latest TV ad has caused controversy in the campaign. One Perry pollster called the ad "nuts," but another calls it a "good strong ad." Critics have objected to its stance against allowing gay people to serve in the military, some even going so far as to call it hate speech. http://abcn.ws/uK4ej6

Lone Star Romney Fans Wait for Perry to Bow Out  - ABC's Matt Negrin reports: Businessmen and lawmakers who would support the former Massachusetts governor prefer to sit on their funds while Romney is still in competition with their own state's governor. "'People said that he's gonna lose, and he's gonna come home, and he's gonna beat the s*** out of us,' one big-dollar bundler, who feared recrimination and so would speak only anonymously, said of conversations with top donors. 'He's the most vindictive guy there ever was.' http://abcn.ws/v8uaYx

Ron Paul Warns that War Drums are Beating on Iran - ABC News' Jason Volack reports: Paul warned against taking the same tone as Obama on Iran, saying that it signals coming military action. http://abcn.ws/vOPwKs

Women's Group Incensed Over Obama Morning After Pill Decision - ABC News' Cecilia Vega reports some women warn the president's support for the decision to keep Plan B pills behind the counter might lose him votes from a key demographic. http://abcn.ws/su5GJZ

Inside Obama's Secret Fundraiser - Though most of Obama's fundraisers for his campaign are open to the press, Matt Negrin reports that this week, the president met with big dollar donors behind closed doors for hours. http://abcn.ws/rywo6v

Nancy Pelosi is GOPeeved - The House Speaker had harsh words for Congressional Republicans after legislators left Capitol Hill without passing a bill to extend the payroll tax this week. Such jabs from the left are likely to get House conservatives feeling Democranky. http://abcn.ws/sjVUIB

NLRB Dismisses South Carolina Labor Suit Against Boeing - From ABC News' Amy Bingham: "The National Labor Relations Board announced today that it has dismissed its  high-profile labor complaint against Boeing, Inc., after the complainant in the case, the Machinists Union, ratified a massive contract with the airplane manufacturing giant Thursday night." http://abcn.ws/voGbhI

Using Reagan Clips to Argue for More Taxes on the Wealthy - http://abcn.ws/uG1oCD